What associations does the word “coffee” evoke? An incredible aroma, an invigorating taste, a cosmetic product (coffee is used as a natural scrub) and fortune-telling? With the light hand of the German company Kaffeeform, from now on this drink will also be associated with dishes made from coffee grounds.
Waste-free coffee or grounds utensils
For someone who is far removed from the behind-the-scenes life of a coffee shop, it’s hard to imagine how much coffee grounds are left over every day. And there is a lot of it. Thousands of owners and restaurants dream, if not to get rid of this waste, at least to reuse it. But who needs the grounds? As it turns out, waste can be in demand, too.
While studying in Italy, young designer Julian Lechner had the idea for a natural and environmentally friendly material based on coffee grounds.
In addition to the main aromatic component Julian needed sawdust and adhesives of natural origin (biopolymers). The utensils are made by injection molding. The material turned out to be so strong that it easily withstands repeated use and cleaning in the dishwasher. A “side effect”, or more accurately a bonus, was the light aroma of coffee that the produced dishes exude.
Despite the fact that the cups and plates are made from recycled materials, Lechner’s project turned out to be very successful from a commercial point of view. Today there are more than 10 stores across Europe and several online stores where you can buy eco-friendly coffee tableware.
By the way, Julian Lechner is not the only designer working in this direction. His Spanish colleague Raul Lauri, for many years worked on the Decafe project, the main idea of which was to create household items, in particular lamps, from coffee grounds.
At the Salone Satellite young designers’ competition held during Milan Design Week in 2012, Raoul presented a collection of coffee grounds lamps, chandeliers, lamps and nightlights. They were created from natural raw materials based on coffee grounds, although this time the exact recipe is kept secret. The only known fact is that in addition to coffee in the composition of the earth from coffee plantations and natural binding components. Today Raul and his team are engaged not only in production of lighting, but also in production of tableware (cups, vases) and they are not going to stop at the achieved, which is only for the benefit of both coffee lovers and citizens of the planet who are not indifferent to the environment.